Still I Cherish What You Gave to Me
by Ressey101
Summary: This a Teresa X Clare fanfic that retells the moments that Clare and Teresa spent together. The beginning starts out fluffy and the middle turns serious with bits of drama in between.
1. Chapter 1

~*~Corrections v4~*~

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**Chapter. 1 ****Hell Have No Mercy As a Claymore Scorned **

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_Yours eyes opened for the first time in what seemed like ages. The ground around me was painted in the blood of humans. Smoke mixed with the smell of iron permeated the air. I had broken the Cardinal rule, vowing that a warrior would never take the life of a human. Something inside me snapped when I saw what that vile creature had done to you. They got what they deserved, preying on your defenselessness and for killing the people of this town. I took justice into my own hands even though it was wrong, even though I might die for it. I just don't know what I would do if you weren't..._

_Teresa?_

_here..._

_Teresa? Teresa?... _

..."Teresa?"

Clare and Teresa were seen walking along a snow covered trail in search of the next village. Teresa's recent abandonment of the organization shifted her main focus on life. She was to live out her new existence with Clare. The information regarding her betrayal had already spread through the higher ups in the Organization and they would waste little effort in dispatching her own comrades to hunt her down like a condemned animal.

This morbid thought would often reappear but fade when Teresa focused her thoughts on Clare. The feelings she had for the girl seemed to grow with each passing day. A bird was seen ruffling its feather on a near branch to keep warm. Clare smiled happily as she walked hand to hand with her protector down a lightly packed snow trail.

"Teresa, how long is it going to take until we get to the next village?"

Clare's feet were tired from the long days walk and needed rest. Teresa was partially human and could walk for days on end but as for Clare, being fully human had it's set backs.

"Oh? What happened to that boundless energy you had when followed me up the steep mountainous terrain for a full day and night?"

Teresa remembered the time deep in the forest when the girl had followed her. On instinct she thought Clare was a bandit since her body wasn't giving off a yoki signature. The events after the confrontation from the bandits left a stunned and silently crying Clare, hugging her idol. Endlessly killing monsters one after another had made her heart grow cold and merciless. It was expected of her kind to adopt this emotionless state, especially ones with high ranked status. For the first time, her heart began to beat with new life as she unconsciously longed for someone to love her, to separate this constant loneliness, to make her feel human again. This girl's tears poured sympathy into her and melted an eternity of winter.

"I was following you closely so I wouldn't lose you. If I lost you I might have been done for or worse if the ban–"

Clare stopped herself half way before the last word in her sentence could be uttered. Saying it often brought back painful memories of the night where Teresa broke the cardinal rule to save her. The warrior looked down at Clare with concern and knew exactly what she was thinking.

_I wish I could of spared you from going through those events Clare. It's a shame they've put a blemish on our precious memories._

"Well now that I'm here nothing will happen to you."

Teresa gave Clare a reassuring nod and squeezed her hand gently as they kept walking down the long and narrow road. The girl's thoughts were quickly replaced with ones of gratitude and adoration.

"Your strong, kind and beautiful. I want to be just like you someday Teresa."

The girl said thoughtfully looking off into the distance. Normally Teresa would have ignored such kind words directed towards her. A claymore, a warrior half human and half monster to be considered beautiful? Let alone kind? Surely she would have thought the girl was daft with her old attitude but to hear those innocent words now was truly flattering. Outwardly Teresa gave a slight chuckle in response to her companions choice of words.

"Hmm...we'll see about that."

Teresa caught sight of a forest and meadow up ahead and smelled the odor of sulfurous gas traveling its way along the air currents. The smell made her nose wrinkle slightly and brought the thought of death or decaying.

_What is this smell? Its smells like rotten eggs. Oh wait, could it be? Out here?_

"There must be a geyser near by."

Clare looked up at Teresa and then looked off into the distance again to see what she was talking about.

"Where? I don't see anything? And what is a geyser?"

Clare was confused at this new term and eagerly wanted to know what it meant. Teresa was intrigued at the girl's thirst for knowledge had told her directly.

"A geyser is a spring that spouts out jets of heated water and steam. If one is lucky a natural hot spring could be found around the vicinity of a geyser. That's only if the water is not boiling hot though."

The warrior didn't want to get Clare's hopes up if they did manage find one but deem it uninhabitable.

"Really?! I've heard about those being around certain parts of Miata but have never been in one before."

Clare suddenly became excited at the thought of there being a hot spring not too far in the distance. She found a whole new spring in her step as she briskly walked down the trail wanting to find the hidden hot spring.

"Don't go jumping in right away. Your skin might fall off from third degree burns."

Teresa caught up to the girl and pinched her side as a warning. Her actions elicited a squeal from Clare.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

Clare pouted as she looked at Teresa questionably. Before the blond teasingly answered back.

"You were starting to leave me in your dust!"

Clare puffed her cheeks and looked away with feigned annoyance which made Teresa admitted a few more chuckles. As the two walked past the meadow, they neared the entrance of the dense, frosty forest. There was so much snow that the branches of the pine trees sagged from the pure weight. Thoughts played in Clare's mind knowing that both of them would be nude in the hot springs as the warm water would caress their tired bodies. She had never seen a grown woman in the nude before except for her mother and was wondering what Teresa looked like without her tight bodysuit.

She had a glimpse of her cleavage and that eye-sore of a scar. Since it was still daylight it would be more visible versus it being viewed in complete darkness.

_What did she look like below the chest? Her stomach, her legs? Did she have other painful scars like that one?_

The warrior could sense unease stir through the young girl and looked down at her with concern.

_I wonder what Clare is thinking about now?_

Teresa sighed to herself as they kept on walking. The two figures entered the forest, the shade from the trees caused the temperature to drop. A harsh gush of cold wind blew past their bodies and was enough to cause a shiver to run through Clare's.

"Brrr..."

Clouds of steam where seen off in the distance. "Hey, that looks like the hot spring!"

Clare shouted letting go of Teresa's hand as she start to run towards the spring.

"Whoa, wait up!"

Teresa ran to catch up with Clare expending little effort and stopped as she saw a natural looking rock formation. The tops were covered in snow and surrounded a pool of steaming water. She bent down on one knee and took off her white leather glove. Dipping her hand into the spring Teresa tested its internal temperature.

"The temperature appears to be safe for bathing."

Teresa looked at Clare and gave her a wink as the girl couldn't help but smile in return with a light blush tinting her small cheek.

"I guess we could camp out here next to the hot spring seeing that there's a spot over there with no snow."

Clare looked around to see were the snow less area was. She squinted her eyes but still couldn't find it.

"All I see is snow."

Clare said in a failed attempt to figure out what Teresa was talking about.

"Oh? I think you need to look a bit harder Clare."

Teresa said with amusement and walked about eight feet away from Clare.

"You see it's right here."

Teresa marked an X in the snow and in the blink of an eye cleared the area with quick flashing movements of her blade. A huge snow-less circle was now presented. The girl looked wide eyed in amazement. She could barely see Teresa arms move and in a matter of seconds she completely cleared the blanketed area.

"Wow."

Was all Clare could say as she stepped inside the snow-less circle. She sat down the materials that were carried in the travel bag.

"Yeah this little trick comes in handy during the snowy seasons. Clare, you wait here for a bit so I can get some firewood."

Clare gave a quick nod putting her trust in Teresa and waited for her as she went off to search for firewood. Clare riffled inside the travel bag and took out a rolled up bamboo place mat and uncoiled it across the snow-less area. She remembered how generous the towns people were during their stay at the last village. The bamboo place mat was practically given to them for free.

She also remembered the outfit Teresa picked out for her and how she really didn't think anything of it when Teresa left her that one time. The girl was now glad that she chose to hang on to them. They've kept her plenty warm during these cold days of winter. Sitting on the place mat, Clare rubbed her hands together pretending there was a fire in front of her as she warmed her hands.

The blond walked about the snow covered forest collecting twigs and branches in dry areas where the snow had not touched them. Off in the distance she saw a deer scraping against the frosty covered ground for scrapes of uneaten vegetation while keeping an eye out for predators.

"This is your unlucky day deer-san."

Teresa eyed the deer with close concentration and in one swift movement pulled out her sword and threw it at her unsuspecting prey. Noticing movement out of the corner of its eye, the deer raised it's head a split second to late. Blood spurted out of the deer's decapitated neck, as it fell sideways to the ground. Having a full bundle of various twigs and branches in her left arm, the warrior approached the deer carcass.

"Your usefulness shall not go to waste."

Teresa took parts from the deer she could carry as she made her way back to the hot spring. She was not oblivious to the fact that a hungry yoma had already set it's eyes on Clare. However, it started closing in to where the girl was located.

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Saliva was dripping from it's mouth as the yoma stared at Clare who was sitting patiently for Teresa's

return. It's body was completely covered in snow and all that could be seen were it's beastly yellow, eyes.

"What a stupid Claymore, I already thought she would have sensed me out by now but I guess my camouflage worked out for the best."

All of a sudden Clare heard a loud snap from behind her as she looked around to see where the sound had come from.

"Teresa? Is that you?"

Clare called out for Teresa again but there was no answer. Suddenly a cold shiver went down her spine as the feeling of fear started to creep in her mind.

_Maybe I'm hearing things. It could be just a wild animal walking through the forest._

Another loud snap was heard and this time a figure walked out from behind the trees and appeared along the trail a few feet from Clare. At first she thought it was a lone traveler peddling by and just happened to walk this way. That was to until she caught a glimpse of the stranger's face.

"Teresa! You came back! But why don't you have any firewood with you?"

Clare was confused as to why Teresa didn't bring anything back with her. She could of sworn Teresa said herself that she was going to go collect firewood.

"Oh, well I couldn't find any dear. I was hoping you could come and help me find some."

_Smart little runt. I wonder if she found me out._

The yoma had disguised it's voice very well and was good enough to even fool Clare until it came close enough to were she could see it was not carrying a sword.

"Where is your sword Teresa? I could of sworn you had it with you when you left this area."

The yoma stopped dead in it's tracks when Clare caught on to it's fake disguise.

_Shit, that was too quick!_

Clare didn't even move a muscle and knew this fraud was not who they really appeared to be. Even though the hair and the face were a perfect match to Teresa's appearance, a warrior would never leave their sword behind.

"Your not as naïve as you appear to be little girl, I must congratulate you on that. But your Claymore friend seems to have taken a leave of absence giving me the perfect opportunity to eat your sweet juicy guts!"

The yoma's eyes changed color from silver to demonic yellow as it's sharp fangs protruded from it's jowls. The imposters face was now hideously distorted as it's nails started to grow to sharp points along with the extension of the legs and arms. A loud gritty growl was emitted from the creature as it stared menacingly at Clare ready to strike.

Backing up, the little girl placed her hands in the snow behind her body. It was horribly cold, so cold that it would numb a person's nerve endings if kept there too long. That's what Clare's body started to feel like as she stared at those eyes of pure evil. Many a nights she was tormented by a cruel yoma. Even when she closed her eyes she could still see it staring at her with twisted delight while it mercilessly scraped it's claws across her back. Oddly, her old scars started to itch again from the memories.

_Maybe it will just kill me and skip over the torturing part._

The girl hopelessly thought, gripping handfuls of painfully frigid snow. That wasn't until a bundle of twigs and branches came crashing down to the earth. Following it, the heavy thud of a deer leg right next to where Clare was sitting. Shocked at first Clare didn't understand where these objects had come from until she looked up at the white covered tree tops.

A blur was seen darting from tree to tree until it disappeared, Clare's attention then went back to the threatening yoma. Teresa was positioned behind the creature as her eyes glowed a bright yellow.

"How dare you try to impersonate me, you pathetic creature! I knew you were somewhere around this vicinity but I didn't think you would have the balls to actually approach us!"

Teresa was infuriated that this yoma would try to fool Clare by impersonating her own image. It was not only outrageous but insulating that Teresa Of The Faint Smile be mocked like this. Teresa said one final sentence to the yoma before it could utter a single word of mercy.

"You were as good as dead when you choose to target Clare."

In one quick movement Teresa decapitated the creature as it fell to it's knees. The carcass bleed out staining the snow purple. The warrior was still perturbed at the yoma even though it was dead and wanted it out of her sight. She kicked the yoma's head into the forest like a quarterback would with a football then disposed of the body by swinging it into the outer edges of the forest. The body snapped a few branches on impact.

"I hate getting my boots dirty!"

Teresa grimaced at her metal boots as she tried to clean the blood off them. All Clare could do was stare at the fuming Teresa as she gave out a loud cry. The little girl ran towards the woman and hugged her sides tightly.

"Teresa!"

The brown-haired girl sobbed quietly still clinging to her heroine. She then felt a hand stroke the top of her head in a gentle motion. It was comforting and relaxing, Teresa seemed to have calmed Clare's frightened state and ease her trembling body.

"I told you I wasn't going to let anything happen to you Clare."

Her words were true and did not hold deception. After Clare had got a hold of herself, she looked up at Teresa with watery eyes and a happy smile. Teresa cupped Clare's right cheek and caressed it gently wiping away the tears she had shed.

"Really Clare, your such a crybaby."

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End of chp. 1 the next chp. will be labeled _**Hot Springs.**_

**Edit:** This story used to be called _Innocent Words_ but was later revised and is now called _Still I Cherish What You Gave to Me_. A rather fitting title don't you think?


	2. Chapter 2

~*~fixed~*~

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**Chapter. 2 Hot Springs**

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After everything had settled down it was decided that the two would take a dip into the hot spring to relieve themselves of the stressful events that had just taken place. Teresa took off her gear one piece at a time starting with her metal shoulder guards and the heavy knife belt that was strapped around her waist.

As Teresa slipped out of her metal shoes she then took off her metal hand guards and cape with ease. She now appeared to be wearing only her tight skin body suit which showed off her elegant curves accented from the raising steam.

Clare was off to the side staring at Teresa amazed at the amount of body armor she once wore and that none of it slowed her down for even a second during battle. Her eyes were focused on Teresa's next actions as she unclasped the neck holder reveling the zipper to her body suit.

She slowly started to unzipped the suit down her back all the way down to her tight buttock and stepped out of her suit.

She knew Clare was staring at her back the whole time but didn't mind the girl's curiosity. As she turned around to look at Clare, she was a little surprised the girl hadn't undressed already. With the steam covering parts of Teresa's body it was hard to make out what her front looked like and was a little annoying to Clare until she was made aware that Teresa was staring right at her.

"Are you going to undress already or just stand there all day?"

Clare turned her gaze and blushed furiously knowing she had been caught staring and then started to undress quickly as Teresa was making her way towards the hot spring.

Suddenly Clare had felt self conscious about her body and was nervous to go join Teresa in the spring. She hadn't felt nervous before when Teresa saw her only in her panties so why is she feeling so nervous now?

Clare swallowed the lump in her throat and walked over to were Teresa was sitting inside the spring. Slowly Clare stepped into the swallow part of the spring and grimaced at the sudden burning feeling she felt as the hot water made contact with her cold skin. Her body quickly recovered and adjusted to the temperature of the water.

Meanwhile Teresa was comfortably sitting on the smooth flat surface of a heated rock with her head leaned back and eyes closed enjoying the sensations.

She hadn't felt this good in years and really needed to take away the pent up stress she was having during the last few weeks. She felt Clare coming towards her but didn't really move as she sat down next to her.

Clare was up to her shoulders in the warm liquid and let out a relaxing sigh as the water soothed her sore muscles. As Clare turned her head to look at Teresa, she saw that her breasts moved up and down hypnotically as they were covered half way in the spring water. Clare wondered if her breasts would ever get that big in her lifetime as she looked down at her own flat chest.

"_Teresa's breasts are so big, I wonder if mine will get really big like that. I've never seen her so beautiful without her clothes on before."_

It was true Teresa's skin seemed to shine in the now bright moonlight as the steam lingered about on top of the water. Teresa felt Clare's eyes rack over her body again and felt a slight chill run up her spine even though she was in warm water. She opened her eyes slightly letting the her silver irises reflect the bright moonlight.

"Clare, you've been staring at me for quite some time. Is something wrong?"

Teresa gently said these words to Clare as to not embarrass her but failed as she heard Clare lower her body into the water up to her nose as she blew bubbles trying to cover up her actions.

"Nob I washmbt" (No I wasn't)

Teresa was amused at Clare's terrible way of hiding what she was doing and chuckled a little.

"Liar. That's exactly what you were doing. Don't you know its rude to ogle people like that?"

Clare let Teresa's words sink in and immediately apologized for her actions.

"I'm sorry I was staring"

Clare said as she looked into the water watching the reflection of the moon.

Teresa looked down at Clare and suddenly felt remorse for what she had said and decided to fix the situation. Teresa got up and hovered over the little girl as she placed both hands on opposite sides of her on the edge of the smooth rock.

Clare had a clear shot of Teresa's front and the jagged discolored scar that laid between her breasts. Along with the flat toned stomach that connected to her waist leading to her light blond pubic hairs that were saturated with water droplets. Clare held her breath not really sure what Teresa was going to do and waited for what was going to happen next.

What happened next surprised Clare as Teresa wrapped her strong arms around her as she gently rolled onto her back having positioned Clare on top of her. Teresa gently pulled up Clare's legs as she held her in a sitting position and looked up into to Clare's cute green eyes.

"I'm sorry Clare I was a little harsh on you. I really don't mind if you look at my body."

Clare stared into honest silver eyes and smiled as she gave Teresa a big hug in return.

"Your body is so beautiful Teresa, I couldn't help but stare."

Clare spoke with admiration as she embraced Teresa. Teresa was again, flattered by Clare and couldn't help but feel the warmth in her words.

"Thank you Clare."

She thanked the honest girl and was happy to hear real kind words from someone in such a long time. In the past other warrior's would talk so much trash behind her back about her good looks and high status power that it really left a mark on what others would truly say about her.

If the lower ranked warriors ever did say anything nice to her it was because they were trying to suck up to her out of fear. But this little girl's words would be true and were not fake to mislead the woman out of fear. No these words were genuine and came from the heart.

Teresa placed her hand on Clare's back and stroked it gently as she listened to her slow breathing along with the natural sounds of the hot spring.

Teresa would periodically cup warm water in her free hand and let it run down Clare's back so the

young girl wouldn't catch cold in the night air. Clare pushed herself up slightly and looked down at Teresa's chest that contained the jagged scar.

Clare traced her fingers along the ridges of the scar that lay between her breasts. She was fascinated by the scars appearance. She felt no feelings of revolt or shock when she stared at it. Only remorse and heart aching sympathy.

"It must of hurt really bad when you got that.."

Teresa looked into Clare's eyes again and wondered what on earth Clare was talking until she looked down to see Clare's hand on her scar.

"Oh that? The keepers do such a horrible patch up job when implanting the flesh of youma into the young warriors. Since I was still partially human at the time, the wound wasn't able to heal all of the way so it came out like that. All warriors chests ended up having this "thing" in the end."

Clare then again felt sad for Teresa knowing that she had to go through such a procedure when she young, probably at her own age. Clare lowered her head to Teresa's chest and kissed the scar over and over again showing her compassion for all the pain Teresa had to endure.

Teresa smiled and stroked Clare's face with two fingers as Clare kept kissing her. Clare then decided to stopped kissing Teresa's scar and went back to embracing her to feel the secure skin to skin contact again.

Teresa never felt conscious of her scar before when she was naked. It was just one of those thoughts you had to push back in the corner of your mind when your bathing. Its there and will always be there till the day you die reminding you are not human but a monster.

However she felt kinda of ashamed to show such a hideous thing to her younger companion. If events were different and Teresa were still human, she wouldn't have to show Clare this scar and instead a "normal" woman's chest. But to be normal would mean giving up her super human abilities and that was always never an option.

Clare with her eyes now closed whispered a few words under her breath.

"I love you Teresa."

Clare's warm breath tickled the side of Teresa's neck as she said those endearing words, words she thought would never be said from this girl. She was truly starting to fall for this girl's words and the thought of that scared her. On the inside another part of her wanted to desperately give in to the torrent sea of emotions that have been pent up for far to long during these past lonely years.

"I-I love you too."

"Clare..."

Clare was happy when she heard Teresa return her words and wanted this moment to last forever but was distracted as she felt Teresa's hand slide down towards the small of her back. She let her hand stroke Clare's back with strong yet delicate fingers. Clare couldn't help but feel goosebumps raise to her skin as she felt Teresa's strong hands stroke her so gently. Teresa noticed this reaction and stopped immediately.

"Are you still cold Clare?"

"mm...no"

Clare mumbled incoherent words after that as she drifted off to sleep...

_"What are you doing?"_ …..these words would echo in Teresa and eventually come back to haunt her.

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**Announcement:**

Finally got the second chapter out before 2011!.. : ) I was struggling with this chapter because I didn't want Teresa and Clare "gettin freaky with it" so soon.. xD ...so I've decided to actually take my time with this fanfic. Looks like Teresa is having some sort of inner conflict going on there... Sorry readers, that this chapter is little bit shorter than the first but some real interesting stuff is gonna be happening in the next chapter. ;D

Well this is the end of chp. 2 the next chp. Will be labeled _**Temptation...**_Comments are always loved! :) it inspires me to keep writing... So thank you **kjmarie**, **Luina**, **BlackDragonBane** and **HoboPorn**!


	3. Chapter 3

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**Author's Note**: Oh my chapter 2 was sickeningly sweet! I can't believe I wrote that! xD Now my readers, it's time for this story to move onwards into the garden of sin...

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**Chapter. 3 Temptation **

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Teresa climbed out of the cozy hot spring and dried off the tired girl's wet body. Life on the run would not be easy for these two but Teresa would do the best she could to provide for Clare. Not matter what situations they may face in the future they will definitely face them together. For the better or for the worst.

A fire was built out of the firewood collected and burned slowly at first but quickly picked up intensity. Clare stirred in her sleep and woke-up seeing the brightly burning fire and the smell of cooking flesh. Clare's stomach growled as she looked at the tasty meal being cooked over the fire.

"I don't really have any seasoning with me except for salt, so that will have to do for now. At the next town we arrive at you can pick up some herbs and spices."

Clare nodded in agreement and was wondering what other supplies they could buy at the next town. Clare felt something tough and leathery against her skin and when she looked down she saw a deer hide covering up her naked body.

"Did you make this Teresa?" Clare asked...

"Can't have you freezing to death out here now can we?"

Clare smiled at her concern and was happy to have Teresa as her guardian. The deer leg was done roasting over the fire and Teresa sliced off a piece for Clare and a piece for herself. Clare scarfed down the piece that was handed to her in seconds and wanted more as her held out her hands.

"My goodness, I didn't even get to finish my half and your done with yours already?" chuckled Teresa.

She sliced off another piece of meat and warned Clare to not eat too fast or she'll choke on her food.

When Clare had her hunger satisfied, she laid back down on the bamboo place mat and stared at the flames of the flickering fire as Teresa spent some time polishing her sword. Teresa stared at the reflection off the sword to see if any stray smudges where left behind.

"Warriors place such pride in their swords but in the end these very swords become our gravestones."

Teresa put her sword aside and decided to get some rest and to put off anymore morbid thoughts.

"Teresa..." Clare called out to her in a quiet voice. "Hm?" Teresa lifted her head in response.

Clare lifted her arm with the deer hide providing a space for Teresa lie down.

"Can you sleep with me?" Clare asked politely. Teresa frowned and said in response,

"Isn't the fire keeping your warm enough?" Clare pouted at Teresa's facial expression.

"Pleeeease?" she pleaded. "Hm..I don't know..." Teresa looked the other way as she smirked trying to

coax another response out her. "Pleeeeeeeeeeease?" Clare pleaded again for a second time.

"Ok... just this once." Teresa stripped of her tight body suit and slipped under the warm deer skin next to her young companion. Clare snuggled up close to her guardian and as she let out a comfortable sigh.

"Are you happy now?" Clare nodded. "I missed the warm feeling of laying next to someone."

Teresa thought of all the nights Clare must have spent alone when she was held captive by that youma.

She wrapped her right arm around Clare as she stroked her shoulder to comfort the girl. She too has spent lonely nights with nothing other than the wilderness and the sword at her back when she slept. However this was a slight change in pace and felt more like what a human would feel like. She had no objections to this kinda of feeling, the feeling of sleeping next to the one you love.

Teresa's sliver irises glowed in the night as she kept a watchful eye out for youma and predators. Her attention turned back to Clare's sleeping face as she brushed a stray bang across her forehead. Both of them where nude under the thick deer skin as they kept each other warm with only their body heat. The peaceful, calm sea was starting to develop rippling waves again.

Teresa moved her left hand under neath the deer skin as she stroked Clare's inner thigh. Slowly, she would trail her fingers up and down the smooth flesh, feeling how soft and delicate the girl's legs were. It was a rather addictive feeling, the smooth touch of another against her fingers, this was an experience that was entirely new to her. So addictive...so very addictive...Clare murmured incoherently as she felt something ticklish between her thighs.

_What is that touching my leg?_

Clare noticed that it was stroking her thighs slowing and moving closer to her center. Clare suddenly flushed as she realized who was touching her. Her heart began to pound as she felt the tip of Teresa's thumb brush up against her pubic region. It felt feathery to the touch as Teresa lightly brushed over Clare's womanhood. She then noticed a slight shudder from Clare as she was caught in her deviant activities.

"Teresa..." Clare breathed slowly as she looked at her guardian with glossy green eyes.

Teresa removed her hand immediately from Clare's thighs and apologized.

"I'm sorry did I wake you Clare?" Teresa was worried as to what the girl's reaction would be.

"A little bit... why was your hand down there?" Clare's face was still flushed from Teresa's petting. Teresa thought of a quick lie to avoid any more awkward questioning or suspicion. I was just checking your body temperature to see if you were warm enough down there.

"Oh ok..." Clare responded in a quiet voice.

She was a little disappointed though when Teresa stopped "checking" her body temperature. She felt all warm and tingly inside while Teresa was "checking" and had never felt a sensation like that in her all young life. On the other hand Teresa felt extreme remorse as to what she had just did. She lied to Clare to escape from the confusing situation, what the hell was happening to her?

"I have to go use the bathroom real quick..." Teresa quickly got up from underneath the deer skin and started to walk a few feet away from the camp.

"Teresa!" Clare was anxious as to whether she'd see Teresa again or perhaps another monster.

"Don't worry I won't take too long." Teresa smiled in reassurance as she walked off into the distance stark naked. She relieved herself in a pile of snow as steam rose up from a now freshly formed puddle of urine. She then walked about half thirty feet down a trail that lead to a frozen solid lake. Her feet crunched beneath the snow feeling no cold or frostbite whatsoever. She placed one foot on top of the froze lake and then another until she was standing under the glow of the moon.

_What am I doing? The girl trusts in me, I can't just take advantage of that! _

Teresa fell to her hands and knees on the cold frozen land. Tears started to flow from her eyes as she pounded her hands on the ice.

"What good of a protector am I if corrupt Clare like that!" …. "I'm no better than a damn monster that

feeds off of blood and lust!"

She was confused as to what she was feeling towards Clare. Teresa loves Clare very much and will always want to protect her but there is this hideous side of her that wants to so desperately feel every inch of her young companions flesh. To hear her cry out in blissful throws of ecstasy, ...ecstasy that would be caused by her own hands. The thought frightened Teresa, as she felt herself giving into the delicious temptation.

"I've already committed murder with these hands...will more sins stain them completely black?"

"No!... I'll die by the blade of my own sword if I ever dared to touch Clare in that way again!"

Teresa felt her body become hot with shameful excitement. Her snow white skin now started to flush from head to toe as her mind writhed in erotic deliriums. She had never felt such excited before and it was incomparable to the excitement of facing an awakened being on the battlefield. No, ….this made her feel dirty with satisfaction and it made her feel absolute empowerment.

Burning with desire, Teresa fell forward on the icy lake and rolled over on her back. Her hands traveled down her chest and over her breasts as she massaged them with urgency. She felt her inner youki flaring up like fireworks. She had to put a firm hold it before it would drive her absolutely mad or worse; drive her over to the point of awakening.

"Ahh... my body feels like it's on fire!"

Teresa started to pant as her hot breath mingled with the cool air. She snaked her right hand down her flat stomach as she caressed the petals of her womanhood. Teresa felt her shameful passion drip on to the tips of her fingers making them glisten in the moonlight.

"Such an... irritating body... mmf.."

She pushes two fingers into her awaiting love canal and gave out a quick gasp. Teresa's breathing became more labored as she thoroughly stroked the most pleasurable spot within her. All that was in her mind now, was that she desperately needed to get back to Clare was before she would start to worry.

"Clare..." -pants- "Clare..." -pants- "In..." Teresa's body suddenly convulses letting wave after wave of euphoria wash over her. Her flaring youki quickly dies down and reverts to a normal flow easing her burdening anxiety. She hopes that youma or others warriors didn't pick up on her moment of ecstasy for a few seconds. Quickly Teresa composes herself and walks off the frozen lake taking special care in the positioning her footsteps. As she arrived back to the camp site Clare got up from the place mat and immediately hugged Teresa.

"You took too long...what were you doing?" Clare asked nervously...

"Oh wow your hugs are tight!" ...Teresa's womanhood was firmly pressed against Clare's smooth abdomen and gave off a rather titillating feeling. Shaking her head and pushing back those repulsive thoughts Teresa gently patted Clare's head.

"You worry too much Clare my dear...lets try to get some rest."

Teresa would sleep a restless night tormented by her thoughts...

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**Announcement: **Gomen for the typos.. I'm really impatient to put my stories through beta reads.. x.x ..so yeah there we have it! Chapter three of _Innocent Words_ has been completed! I'm probably gonna get some serious backlash for writing it xD * Braces myself * I'm warning you now that chp. 4 is gonna take it up a notch involving violent & sexual content so do be to surprised... : ) Thank you users **L.O **, **T2C-Fan** , **faintsmile** & **teresafan **for supporting and commenting me on my story. Much love to you guys!

I think I'll just drop this here ;D

Preview:

-"What is she, your little sex toy?"

-She held the double edged blade of her sword right against her jugular...

-"It'll be just like the good old days...Teresa won't you give me this one moment"

-"Haha the virgin...she's never gonna get laid"

-"Let me go! Your doing strange things! I'm gonna tell Teresa on you!"

-"Papa kept doing it over and over again..and mama just stood there.."

-"TERESAAAAA!"

-"I'll cut you down where you stand...people like you should of never joined the organization to begin with.."

Chapter 4: **_The Shadow That Lurks Behind Allies_**


	4. Chapter 4 part I

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**Chapter. 4 The Shadow That Lurks Behind Allies: Part I**

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Eyes opening to a blurry blue morning sky, Teresa heard the sound of morning birds chirping away about their business. She only had about three hours of sleep as she was battling her inner emotions during the previous night. She stretched out her long slender arms and emitted a tired yawn only to notice Clare was not at her side.

"Clare...?" Teresa became incredibly nervous not knowing where her young companion was located.

"Clare? Where are you!"

Teresa got up quickly and stepped into the ice cold morning snow.

_Did an animal get her? Did she walk off somewhere to use the bathroom and get lost? Oh god! Please don't let it be a youma!_

Teresa started to search for Clare frantically, until she heard the sounds of splashing water a couple feet away from the bubbling hot spring.

"There you are young lady!...You gave me quite a scare this morning." Teresa stood there in the nude with slight annoyance and her hands at her hips.

"Morning, Teresa! Sorry, I just wanted to take a quick soak in the spring before we started walking again." Clare smiled at Teresa innocently and all the previous tension in Teresa just seemed to melt away at that moment.

"Ok, make it quick...we need to get out of here and get to the next town. Too much time has been wasted lazing around." Teresa then walked off to go put on her clothes and gear. Five minutes later Clare helped put away the preserved meat from their last meal in the big leather carrying bag. Clare looked at Teresa and couldn't help but emit a quiet giggle.

"What's so funny?" Teresa looked at Clare questionably.

Clare pointed at Teresa's head, "Your hair..." she giggled innocently.

Teresa whipped out her sword and saw the reflection of herself in the metal. She was in such a rush to leave for the next town that she forgot to style her hair in the beauty that it was known for.

Clare retrieved a hair brush from the leather bag and walked up to Teresa.

"Can I brush your hair?" Clare asked in a shy way as she kept the brush hidden behind her back.

"No, that's ok I can do it myself." Teresa held out her hand for the brush.

"Please...Teresa..." Clare insisted with hopes of influencing her.

"Um.."

"Pleeeease..." Clare's gaze now turned into irresistible puppy dog eyes that couldn't take no for an answer.

_Oh geez Clare, I think I'm spoiling you too much...but then again, who can say no to those adorable emerald eyes. _

"Oh alright, this is probably going to be a new habit of yours soon." Teresa chopped down a dead tree all the way down to the stump and sat on it as Clare began to brush her hair.

Clare tenderly stroked, moving strands of light blond hair from side to side with the brush. Teresa's long wavy locks were tamed and shined beautifully in the morning sunlight.

"All done." Clare stepped back as Teresa looked at her reflection in the metallic sword.

"Not bad, you know what, I don't think I'd mind you doing this every morning." Clare gave out an excited squeal and hugged Teresa tightly.

"Thank you, Teresa!" Clare smiled happily as Teresa rested her hand on the girl's head.

"You're welcome, sweetie."

_The simplest things make this girl so happy._

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Walking down the snowy trail once again, Teresa and Clare finally reached the town of La Roosa and were greeted by very few townspeople. Dressed in dark cloaks, Teresa and Clare kept a low profile as they hunted for a spice & seasons vendor.

"Hello there, ma'am, do you carry spices here?" Teresa was careful enough to conceal her eyes in the shadows of her hood to the point they could not be seen.

"I sure do! I carry everything from spices to the chilly north, the mysterious east and west and spices from the arid south. Would kind would you like?" The merchant was a bit wary of the travelers' appearances. But strangers or outsiders, they would not stop her from selling her prized goods.

"I'll some take of these." Teresa pointed to seasons that would go well with meat products and various foods. Clare stared at a miniature cloth bag labeled 'oatmeal raisin spice cookies'. The merchant looked at the cloaked little girl with sudden curiosity.

"Is that your daughter?" The merchant was hoping she didn't ask a forbidden question between these two strangers. Teresa needed to say something quick to avoid further suspicion.

"Huh? Oh this girl, well in a way she is but we're not re-"

"Oh sisters then? You two look really close." The merchant smiled and gave the supplies to the little girl.

"Yes, you could say that." Teresa put her hand on top of Clare's head as the latter looked up and smiled at her.

"This one's on the house." The merchant gave Clare the miniature cloth bag of oatmeal raisin spice cookies.

"How did you know I wanted them?" Clare looked up at the merchant lady with amazement. "Haha, you were practically drooling all over them. Now go fill your belly with that yummy treat!" Clare smiled at the merchant lady and thanked her. The merchant offered Teresa advice as to where they could find the best lodging during the next day or so.

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Clare lays on the bed with her head in Teresa's lap sound asleep. _She's so tired after walking this far today, I better just let her keep sleeping... _A sudden pulsation ripples out from Teresa's chest as four distinct yoki auras entering the town invade her senses.

"Fuck! I've felt this immense aura before and there's no mistaking it. It's her!" Noel says looking up at the window to where Teresa and Clare are stationed.

Teresa quickly presses her back against the wall near the open window to avoid from being seen.

"Wow, the organization really means business. They've dispatched number two through five so quickly!"

"Watch your mouth, Noel! I don't wish to wash it out with soap!" Sophia says with annoyance bubbling on her face.

"I wouldn't worry about Teresa attacking us immediately. She doesn't seem to be the one who murders for the fun of it," Irene says with a blank expression.

"She did manage to kill over a handful of humans though, so it's only natural that we'd be the ones next," Sophia states.

"Whatcha getting scared of, Sophia?" Noel quips with a smug grin on her face.

"I'm only stating facts, Noel. I don't know what possessed you with the idea that I'm experiencing fear."

"I think it's wrong to kill humans whether they are bad or good. She made that decision and she will ultimately pay for it." Priscilla voices with absolute conviction.

"We'll rest for the night in La Roosa and when Teresa tries to leave town, in a moment's notice, we will execute her," Irene says grimly with a still unreadable face.

"Great! I could really use a drink right about now!" Noel drags Sophia into the nearest inn and asks the Inn keeper for two bottles of whiskey along with a pair of keys to room number 69.

"Umm, ladies, isn't that a bit too much for the two of you?" The Inn keeper ogles at the two warriors nervously.

"Don't worry sir, you'd be surprised how much this monkey can actually drink," Sophia says with a reluctant smirk as Noel tries to bore holes into her body from her menacing stare.

Irene and Priscilla lodge in separate rooms for the night as they cautiously wait for Teresa's next move.

Priscilla suddenly hears a knock on the door of her room and puts down a book she was reading to go see who it is.

With a sigh she answers, "What do you want now, Noel?" Priscilla's annoyance was evident on her face from the sudden interruption into the new adventure story she was getting into.

"You, me and Sophia will have a drinking match! Now!" Noel pulls Priscilla by the scruff of her uniform and takes her to their room.

"Noel, this is not very professional, warriors of the organization don't dabble in such trifling activities. I really don't see why I should participate in thi- Sophia aren't you going to say something!" Priscilla looks at Sophia with pleading eyes and only receives a cold smirk in return.

"Priscilla, you should know very well that once Noel has her eyes set on something there's no turning back for her and not even I can stop her."

"Tch..useless.." Priscilla mutters underneath her breath.

"Unless of course Ms. Prissy Pants is a virgin." Noel snickers as she looks at Priscilla.

"What the hell does that have to do with it? You do realize I'm underage right? Plus if I drank, it would inhibit my abilities."

Noel, Sophia and Priscilla are all seated at a makeshift table in room 69 and the tension in the air was thick by Noel's sudden choice of words.

"Always gotta be a square, don't you, Ms. Prissy Pants? You may be two ranks away from being number one and all but with that kinda attitude, you're never gonna get laid!"

Priscilla flushes four shades of red at Noel's last statement and grabs the shot glass of whiskey Sophia pours in front of her. She chugs down the stingy-tasting liquid until it's completely gone.

The shot glass meets the wood with a loud slam as it shatters into a million pieces. "How's that for a damn virgin!" she declares as a hiccup follows.

"Haha! Now that's what I'm talkin about! Hey, Sophia, give this girl three more shots!" Noel says cheerfully as she tries to keep up in shot amounts with Priscilla.

"You know, you shouldn't let Noel get to you like that. She doesn't have much going on up there," Sophia remarks, trying to comfort Priscilla.

"Are you calling me dense! Who almost pissed their pants today? Ms. Scaredy Cat!" Noel says with a now flushed expression on her face.

Irene holds two fingers to her right temple as she feels a migraine developing. "Those idiots are making such a huge racket and I won't get any rest if I continue staying here."

"HAHA! And then Sophia was all crying because she couldn't even beat this girl that was 10 ranks below her. It was hilarious!" Noel chuckles continuously.

"Geez you have a big mouth! I could've sworn you had forgotten that!" Sophia reacts with sudden embarrassment.

"Hehe, no way! Sophia-senpai was like that once too?" Priscilla holds her hands to her face to contain her amusement.

"Hehe, yeah and what was even more embarrassing is when she'd-" Noel grabs another shot of whiskey as she tilts her back to swallow it. Then all of a sudden the sound of a metallic sword splintering through wood breaks the silence as an empty whiskey bottle falls over on its side.

Noel finishes her shot with a quick expel of air. "Phew! Whoa, this stuff stings!" Noel looks into the metallic sword just inches from her face and stares at her reflection.

"Damn, I look good! When did you guys put a mirror here?" says Noel, bobbing back and forth in a drunken state. Sophia and Priscilla look at the sword in shock as it quickly pulls back from the wall, leaving a small hole in its wake. A cold, sliver iris could be seen peering out at them from the dark.

"Control your comrades, Sophia, or I will be forced to give them unnecessary punishment." As the silver eye vanishes, footsteps creak against the wooden floor in the nearby room and a door opens and slams shut very loudly, almost as if it were broken off its hinges.

"Hmph, what's her problem?" says Noel sipping on another shot. "She's probably just worried about confronting Teresa. It's really obvious from that sudden outburst." Sophia says in an emotionless tone. "We are all worried with confronting her...in a way."

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Alone together in a dark quiet room, two hot bodies press and mingle against each other.

"Ah, Noel, don't bite me there! Oh, that's going to leave a mark." Noel licks the sensitive spot on Sophia's left breast where bites marks now appear. "You're awfully aggressive tonight, is something bothering you?" Sophia stares at Noel in the dark with her glowing irises.

_Noel, are you ashamed to admit you were scared when you felt Teresa's yoki signature? I can't blame you, I was scared too. _

"Nah, you're just making me really excited tonight." Noel grins as she sucks on one of Sophia's nipples and twirls it around her tongue. A moan escapes Sophia's parted lips as a drop of sweat rolls down the side of her forehead. Sophia moves her left hand in between Noels legs and starts rubbing her cleft firmly. Shivers continuously run up and down Noel's spine from her partner's ministrations.

"If anything is bothering you, you're always welcome to tell me." Sophia slips two fingers past Noels lower lips and penetrates her most vulnerable spot. "Oh!" Noel recoils and can't help but let out a gasp of surprise.

_Will this be the last time I get to see that beautiful face of yours, Noel? I really wish I'll always see it – forever. _

Staring intently at Noel's expressions, Sophia rhythmically twists the two digits back and forth inside her partners burning passion. Her partner's hips move in conjunction to her forceful thrusts as indecent sounds are emitted from her center. Noel stares into both two well knowing eyes and shamefully looks away from Sophia.

_Why do you always look at me like that! It's like you're staring right into my soul. It gives me shivers but… but you're the only one who'll ever know my true fears, hates, joys and loves. You care so much about me. Please, Sophia I want you to always be here to look at me like that._

"You're dripping wet, you're such a slut." Sophia smiles at how excited her partner is for her.

"S-s-shut up!" Noel's already flushed face turns a shade redder from her lover's lewd comment. Sophia smiles more as her often brash Noel is now easily embarrassed from just the slightest teases.

Sophia gently guides Noel by the neck, bringing her into a kiss as she captures her awaiting tongue and sucks on it urgently. Noel tries to break to free but she can't because of her

partner's sudden vice-like grip on her neck. Saliva starts to drip in large amounts from their mouths as they struggle to catch their breath. Sophia quickens the strokes inside her lover and

feels her fingers being squeezed tightly by Noel. Noel finally tears away from her partner's mouth as she moans loudly with her back elegantly arched in bliss.

Noel slowly recovers from her euphoria-filled moment as she lays her head against her partner's chest. Sophia stokes her head gently, enjoying the silence now between them. A few moments pass by before Noel responds.

"Sophia."

"Hmm?"

"I don't want to die."

"Who says you're going to die? If you die then I shall die too fighting to protect you."

Noel stares up at matching silver eyes, then looks away as she kisses the soft flesh between Sophia's breasts.

"You're an idiot you know that." Noel lets go of the tears she held back inside for so long during that day. Sophia strokes the back of Noel's head reassuringly as tears continue to pour from her partner's silver eyes.

"Then let me be the biggest idiot in the world for I shall never stop loving you."

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**Announcement: **Oh my! What is with that touching end! I thought I wasn't gonna write anymore sappiness and get serious! Dx Truth be told, I guess I wanted to ship these two because I've never really read any fanfics about them. Warriors have their fears, hates and desires as well so I wanted to explore that a little bit with Sophia and Noel. They're not going to hijack the story by any means though so don't get your hopes up. lol xD I've gotta a new beta reader now so you guys won't have to cringe as much regarding typos. He'll be my new assistant so be sure to thank Mr. Atlas-san. In regards to my absence I've been away for a few months because I was busy with college. However that's no excuse to hold out on my readers like that. Gomen. * bows* For those of you that have still stuck around I'd like to thank: **le-petit-guerrier **. Atlas, Blood-Red Butterfly, **kingdomheartsgirl777, **XxMatzurukaxX , **faintsmile** **,** silver-eye, **crazy88** **,**The Kunoichi, **betrayal , **shane 47 and **Smusher6 **for supporting and commenting on my story. I don't think I'd write as much if it weren't for you guys & gals. Oh if you wanna hear what I sound like check out one of my Claymore Parody videos. You'll have a nice lulz. Part II of the 4th chapter should be posted with the end of May or early June.

See you soon~


	5. Chapter 4 part II

~*~Corrections v3~*~

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**Chapter. 4 The Shadow That Lurks Behind Allies: Part II**

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Irene was on the outskirts of La Roosa cautiously, planning her next move. She knew she had to confront Teresa but going about it wasn't going to be easy.

Focusing on her target at hand, Irene immediately pinpointed Teresa's faint aura. It was now dawn as the sun crept over the hills, casting its warmth over the earth below. Quickly, she moved closer and closer to where Teresa and Clare were located. She stopped in front of their inn as she looked up at the window above. She entered the inn and gave the inn keeper all the gold rods she had with a face as cold as ice.

"This will be more than enough to fix the repairs to your inn." Confused and amazed the inn keeper did not question the silver-eyed warrior and gave her a firm nod as he let her go about her business. Teresa was seated on a chair in the middle of the room with Clare who was asleep, waiting for Irene's unwelcoming visit.

_She's gotten really brave but can she hold out her strength against me?_

Teresa thought to herself before Irene's presence became known as the door leading to Teresa and Clare's room was suddenly hacked to bits.

"I see you've improved your quick sword," Teresa commented as Irene stood in the door way, eying her with an unmovable poker face.

"Teresa, former number one of the Organization, you are a traitor for taking the lives of humans into your own hands. Your punishment is execution!" With that statement Irene flashed through the doorway and collided head on with Teresa's sword. Sparks flew all over as Irene used her quick sword in rapid succession. Teresa kept up with Irene's pace at ease, almost as if she was mocking her.

"Oh my, that's not how you greet an old acquaintance." The amount of sparks increased as Irene pumped more yoki into her quick sword technique until an unbearable noise emitted from the clashing of the two powerful blades. Teresa gave off a sneer of boredom as she barely broke a sweat, finding Irene's movements to become quite repetitive.

"Are we going to do this all day?" Teresa said flatly.

Irene stopped her attacks with a loud clang against Teresa's sword. As Irene walked towards Teresa, she lowered her sword as she was now inches away from Teresa's lips.

"Why, Teresa? Why are you making me fight against you like this? Why can't we return to the way things were so long ago?"

Irene's emotionless eyes now showed the feelings of sadness as she looked at Teresa, pleading for an answer.

"The past is the past. I can't go back to live that miserable life I once called my own. Every day I lived was in pain and every day of my living was in denial of that pain."

Irene could clearly see the pain Teresa was talking about when she stared into her deep silver eyes. Irene placed her hand under Teresa's chin to close the small gap between them until Teresa interrupted her.

"I now live for a new purpose and I will continue to live for that purpose until the time is right."

Irene stopped what she was doing and looked over at the brown-haired girl with curiosity and a hint of jealousy. Clare was peeking out from under the covers, wondering what all the commotion was about until she caught Irene's harsh glare. Fearfully, the young girl ducked her head back under the covers only to peek above them again in a shy manner.

"So she is the one that you are now living for?" Irene said coldly, still staring at Clare.

"Yes, her name is Clare." Teresa gave a reassuring smile towards the shy Clare peeking from under the covers. Irene took two steps back from Teresa as she gave her a stern look.

"You are foolish for mingling with humans. They do not understand how we half breeds feel. I don't know what you saw in that girl but nothing good will come of it." There was a long pause before Teresa broke the silence.

"Call me whatever you want but I live for Clare and therefore shall continue to live by my own rules. Now run along on back to your little wolf pack. They must be worried that their alpha has gone missing."

"Tch!" Irene let out an irritated hiss as she shot a fierce glare at Teresa.

"You'll regret this!" Irene flashed her quick sword at the adjacent window shattering it to pieces as she jumped out of it. With a crushing thud she landed on the ground below and ran off in the direction of her comrades.

"I have no regrets," Teresa said in a low voice, watching the figure run off in the distance.

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"Noel, you'll attack her from the window while I flush her out from the inn. Sophia will be positioned on the ground in case you miss. Priscilla, since Teresa will be occupied with the three of us, I want you to grab the kid and get her away from the fight." Noel, Sophia and Priscilla nodded in agreement to Irene's hasty plan as they all took off at neck-breaking speed towards Teresa and Clare's inn.

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Meanwhile, Clare was gathering the travel gear, taking special care in handling Teresa's knife set.

"Careful, sweetie, don't go getting yourself cut," Teresa said, looking in girl's direction. Clare looked up at Teresa and gave her a smile as she was glad Teresa cared so much for her. Maybe a little too much, now that she was thinking about it.

"What would you do if I did accidentally cut myself, Teresa?" Clare gave her a daring suggestion.

"Huh? Well we'd have to bandage it up. You don't have quick regenerative abilities like me so..."

Clare gave a frown as she was not expecting that kind of answer from her. Seeing Clare frown like that puzzled Teresa to no end.

"I meant to say, what if I got a cut that was not that serious. Like umm..." Clare blushed, looking at the canvas bag and its contents. Teresa walked over to where Clare was because she had now taken an interest in the girl's words.

"Tell me where you think you'd cut yourself, Clare." Clare was surprised when Teresa became interested in what she was inferring to. She thought for a quick second that maybe she really did cut herself and looked at her hand in a panic. Relieved to see no actual cut on her hand, Clare let out a small sigh of relief.

"Well umm what I meant to say was, what if I got a small cut on my finger?" Clare held out her index finger for Teresa to see not really knowing what good it would do for her to make up a pretended injury.

Teresa took hold of Clare's hand as she knelt down next to her, looking at it intensely.

_She's got such small hands and yet they're so fragile. _

Teresa thought to herself while pondering what to say next.

"I guess we'd have to stop the bleeding, now wouldn't we?" Teresa looked at Clare and couldn't help but smile as she now saw a completely flushed Clare.

_She's so bad at hiding her emotions on that cute face of hers. This might be kinda fun._

Clare gave a great big gulp as she looked at her finger then back at Teresa again. She then closed her eyes as she felt Teresa's warm breath on her index finger. Just the sensation alone was enough to send shivers up and down the young girl's spine.

_Teresa, wha… what are you… what are you gonna do with my finger? _

SWOOSH! SMAAAAASH! CRAAAAAASH!

Suddenly, the bed post and mattress that the latter were next to was hacked to bits with Teresa standing a few feet away, holding her young companion. Clare quickly opened her eyes to see the bed in ruins as she found the invading sight of Irene.

"Wha-?" the girl uttered in confusion.

"You guys really do have a death wish. If that'd been any closer**,** you could've injured her!" Teresa barked as she eyed Irene cautiously.

"I wasn't aiming for the kid, I was aiming for your head!" Irene said as she rocketed towards Teresa in one swift movement.

"Clare, hold on tight!" Teresa bolted out of the room from the window, only to come head on with Noel's sword. Teresa successfully blocked it and landed on the ground with a heavy thud.

"Damn! She blocked it!" Noel snarled in agitation.

Teresa quickly let go of Clare, motioning her to get back as the girl got out of the away in time to avoid getting hit by Sophia's barrage of slashes.

"Why don't you die, traitor!" Sophia lashed out bitterly, striking one powerful blow after the other. Teresa easily scanned Sophia's movements, tracing the flow of yoki in her body.

"I can see your movements quite clearly," Teresa mocked as Sophia's eyes turned a bright gold.

"What's with this woman? She's not even using 10% of her yoki!" Sophia was now having a hard time keeping up with Teresa movements as she kept dodging each of her attacks.

Teresa jumped to the side, reacting to Sophia's attacks. And sensing Noel coming from the left, she dodged swiftly, causing Noel to crash right into Sophia.

"Watch where you're going!" Sophia yelled out in anger from Noel's miscalculated attack.

"Teamwork is what you guys need. Your attacks are so uncoordinated, you'll never manage to hit me." Teresa coached with confidence. Noel managed to get on her feet as she glared at Teresa.

"Tch, you haven't seen anything yet! I'd also say that little human girl you keep by your side would make an excellent sex toy. Who knew Teresa of the Faint Smile would actually be a cradle rob-"

Noel wasn't even given time to finish her sentence before the blade of Teresa's double edge sword was held against her jugular.

"I usually don't respond to such petty insults but you've crossed the line with that one, my dear comrade." In an instant Teresa was five feet behind Noel standing still like a statue.

"Ha! What was that? You didn't even-"

SPUUUUURRRRRRRRT!

"Uaaaaaagh!" With a loud clang Noel's sword dropped to the ground as blood spewed from the side of her neck in massive amounts crippling Noel to the dirt.

"NOEL!" Sophia shouted out in fear, immediately executing another barrage of slashes towards Teresa.

Teresa kept blocking Sophia's attacks, pinpointing the right moment to slash at one of her shoulders to render her useless. That was until Irene came up from behind with her quick sword shredding Teresa's cape in the process. Feet firmly pressed to the ground, Teresa twisted 90 degrees as she performed her signature somersault, landing on the tip of Sophia's sword perfectly.

"Is that all? And here I thought you guys were trying to take my head. So disappointing..."

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"Come with me little girl I'll lead you to a safer place than this, " said Priscilla with an emotionless tone.

"No! I want to stay and watch Teresa!" Clare refused with defiance towards the warrior.

"Can't let you do that, it's too dangerous and I will not be held responsible for your death, now come!" Priscilla grabbed the girl's arm, ignoring her protests and dragged her in to an abandoned building.

As they were walking towards the building Clare, couldn't help but notice the alley in passing as piles beyond piles of dead yoma bodies filled the space. A retched stench traveled through the air as flies had already laid their eggs within the dead corpses. Maggots were feasting on the rotten flesh as they were seen crawling in and out of a dead yoma's nose. Clare couldn't help but wince in disgust at the sight.

"Let me go!" Clare was now hitting Priscilla's shoulder with her free hand when they entered the structure. Priscilla roughly shoved Clare forward as her back collided against a wooden beam that was holding up the abandoned building.

"Listen here you little twit! Your so called Teresa, murdered humans with her own hands! A half breed warrior should never do that to any human whether they're good or bad!"

Priscilla lectured, trying to reason with the little girl.

"You don't understand. Teresa was only trying to save me from the bandits! Stop trying to kill her!" Clare countered in objection.

"Mama, ...Papa..." Priscilla said under her breath. Clare started to become confused as to why Priscilla was suddenly mentioning her parents.

"Who?" Clare said with a puzzled look on her face.

Priscilla aggressively pressed her hand into Clare's right shoulder as she started to shake uncontrollably.

"PAPA! He did terrible things to me!...He would touch me..." Priscilla grabbed the girl's chest and squeezed it as Clare winced from the sudden contact.

"He moved his hands all over me...they were always moving ..." her hands roughly pawed at the young girl's abdomen.

"Stop!" Clare moved her head from side to side, desperately trying to push this crazy warrior off of her.

Priscilla's head was pointed towards the ground as tears poured from her eyes. The warrior's face suddenly snapped upward, staring at Clare with agony.

"Why? I loved Papa so much, why would he do such a thing?! He even put his private part inside here..." Priscilla trailed her fingers down Clare's chest, past her navel and under her skirt forcefully pressing against her center.

"Ahn! Stop it! Quit doing this to me!" Clare mustered all the strength she could to finally push Priscilla off of her. Priscilla quickly grabbed the girl's ankle causing her to trip and fall to the ground. She then turned the young girl over pinning her arms above her head.

"He just kept doing it over and over again as mama stood there watching! His face was so scary! HE WAS A MONSTER!" the warrior yelled. Priscilla's tears were now staining Clare's leather clothes.

"Let me go! Teresa will tear you to shreds when she sees what you're doing!" Clare threatened with a voice full of fear and anxiety.

"FUCK YOU! I'M GOING TO KILL HER!" Priscilla's eyes were now filled with rage as her fist slammed into ground, right next to Clare's head sending out a small shockwave.

"TERESAAAAA!" Clare shouted at the top of her lungs, hoping she would hear. She hoped that Teresa would hear her and arrive in the nick of time to save her from this deranged girl.

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**Announcement: **

I also managed to fit in some more Clare x Teresa fluff cause I like spoiling you guys. ; )

I know, I'm so mean, ending part II on a cliffhanger. o_o;; Oh my, what's gonna happen to Clare?! Don't worry...I'm a little evil but not _that_ evil D: Hmm...I believe this story is starting to evolve. Originally I only planned for this story to be a femslash that would have an alternate and less brutal tragic ending but now look at it! I have a few plans as to where this story will go, but only if your willing to read through some angsty parts that is. I always believe the makings of a good adventure story should have some amount of angst in it or else it wouldn't be as exciting.

Please be patient for the 3rd installment of chapter 4. That sucker is gonna be tough for me to write. I'd also like to thank those people who have been faving and adding my story to their subscriptions/alerts list. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside ; ) To answer a few questions out there Clare is around the age of 12 or 13 making her middle school age which probably explains Teresa's reoccurring guilt.

Thank you again le-petit-guerrier for your outstanding patience while beta reading this chapter!

Till next time everyone.

**Edit:** You've probably noticed some really disturbing elements have been recently added towards the end of this chapter. It's mostly for shock value and the scenes leading up to chapter 4 part III, nothing more.


	6. Chapter 4 part III

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**Chapter. 4 The Shadow That Lurks Behind Allies part III**

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**Author's Note: **Wut, seriously? A new chapter? No more re-posts?! \( oAo )/

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Teresa jumped off Sophia's sword as she felt Irene advancing towards her with another quicksword. She effortlessly blocked the quicksword in midair and gently landing on the ground a few feet away.

"After all these years, Teresa's sword techniques have never faltered, she has only gotten better! This is not going to be good for Priscilla." Irene carefully eyed Teresa planning where to strike next.

"You bitch!" Noel suddenly charged Teresa without warning seeming to have recovered enough from her previous shoulder injury. Irene was too late in trying to stop her hasty attack.

"Noel no!" Irene shouted.

Teresa vanished as Noel sliced through the air at her intended target only to feel an instant stinging sensation spread across her only good shoulder.

"Fuck!"

Noel collapsed to the dirt once again as she tried to stop the bleeding from her second damaged shoulder.

"This is truly pathetic, Irene I'm disappointed in your comrades. Well no matter, I'll just render you all useless for now and be on my way with Clare." Teresa raised her sword high in the sky as the sun reflected its harsh rays from the blade onto its unlucky opponents. In a flash Sophia and Irene joined Noel in the dirt withering in pain as all of their shoulders were now rendered useless for the time being.

"I guess this is goodbye...all of you fought so hard to take my head too...what a-"

"TERESAAAAA!"

Teresa failed to speak her last parting words as she heard a blood curdling scream being emitted from Clare off into the distance. All the color drained from Teresa's face she looked off into the direction from where she heard the scream. To a normal human the sound of the scream was barely audible but to Teresa it was clear as day.

"Clare!"

Teresa quickly scolded herself for not keeping her eyes on Clare as she was now put in danger once again from her carelessness. Teresa pumped a tiny bit of yoki into her legs as she exploded with speed from where she was standing. The shear force of her momentum shook the earth leaving a small crater in her wake.

Clare was now starting to panic not knowing what this crazy warrior would do to her. If only she was stronger, bigger and tough like Teresa she could over power this warrior but it was wishful thinking.

"There is no Teresa!" Priscilla roughly slapped Clare across the face leaving a red yet visible hand print. Tears now trickled down the young girl's eyes as she felt the stinging sensation of that painful slap.

_Teresa where are you?_

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.

BA-BOOOM! CRASH!

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.

Half of the building Priscilla and Clare were occupying was obliterated as a tall figure with bright silver-eyes was seen walking out from the dust cloud of debris and rubble.

"And you call yourself a warrior, your no better than the kind we kill. You must of had a really screwed up childhood to be taking your aggression out on a little girl." Teresa said as she eyed Priscilla hovering over a distressed Clare.

"Teresa?!" Priscilla whipped her head around to the see blond standing before her a few feet away.

"TERESA!" Clare shouted upon seeing her guardian come to her rescue.

"You know nothing of my childhood!" Priscilla's control over her opponent was now beginning to slip.

"Oh? That was just a guess and it looks like I hit the nail on the head. Your father probably wasn't your favorite family member either."

"He was a monster! He had no right to!" Priscilla's body started to tremble again. Carefully eying Teresa she inched for her sword.

"No right to what?" Teresa questioned.

"... a human having complete trust in a cold blooded monster." Priscilla eyes were void of emotion as she spoke of the harsh reality.

"Monster? Just who's the monster preying on that innocent little girl?!" Teresa quipped back at the brooding warrior.

"Oh she hardly seems innocent, especially when I touch her right here." Priscilla firmly pressed her hand between Clare's legs as the girl emitted a muffled squeak.

"It's too bad no one will be able to _fully_ love her now." Priscilla narrowed her eyes as she finished the sentence. Teresa's eyes immediately turned a bright gold as she glared furiously at Priscilla.

"What the hell did you just do to her?!" Teresa felt the very blood boil in her veils at the thought of such an atrocious act being done to Clare. She couldn't help but feel a little guilt at her own indecent thinking from a few days ago.

"It's just what you think Teresa." Priscilla was taking absolute pride in torturing the woman before her.

"Don't you think it's fair since you took the lives of humans I take what is most important to this girl," Priscilla remarked as she was now grinning with twisted satisfaction upon seeing the rage build up in her opponent.

Clare looked at Priscilla with confusion and then back at Teresa with worry. Priscilla's previous words weren't true, she didn't go _that_ far with her body. Therefore making Priscilla's statements about taking her chastity a complete lie!

"Tere-!" Clare was prevented from speaking when Priscilla immediately put her hand over the girl's mouth.

"I'll cut you down before you stand! People like you should of never joined the organization to begin with!" The woman had clearly fallen for Priscilla's deceptive taunt.

Priscilla let out a burst of yoki as she rocketed towards her opponent at blinding speed. Teresa successfully blocked Priscilla's on coming attack, but was caught off guard.

_How did I not sense her actions beforehand?_

"Well your certainly fast but that won't last for long." Sparks flew as Teresa pushed against her blade forcing Priscilla backwards.

"Die Traitor!" Priscilla shifted to the left to quickly hack at Teresa's vulnerable flank but missed as she cut a near by pillar in two. The upper portion of the ceiling immediately caved in on her. Teresa thought she escaped easily that time but noticed a small cut on her left arm which now made her incredibly annoyed.

"Tch...persistent aren't you?" Teresa picked up Clare and jumped up on to what little remained of the buildings roof.

"You didn't think I was going to let you die did you Clare?" Teresa looked downward at the brown haired girl trying to ease her nerves a bit.

"I knew you'd come for me." Clare smiled as she hugged Teresa's slender torso.

"She was lying when she said those things about taking my-" Clare didn't finish her sentence when she felt a reassuring hand placed on her head.

"It's my fault, falling for such a deceptive taunt. I've really gotten soft lately."

"You coward! Stop using that girl as a shield!" Priscilla snarled as she let loose a huge torrent of blue yoki increasing her level beyond the normal amount needed. Debris and rubble scattered everywhere as she was still on the ground. Her face was now hideously distorted.

"Listen kid, get over whatever your dead parents did to you in the past. That's not healthy harboring such hatred inside yourself like that. It poisons the minds of many good warriors."

"Unforgivable..." Priscilla muttered in a low tone.

"Unforgivable, unforgivable...UNFORGIVABLE!"

The half human half monster hybrid charged at Teresa now in a blind rage. Swiftly moving out of the way with Clare, Teresa ran off of the building roof top and on to the ground as the building that was behind them exploded like had been hit by a bomb.

"RRAAAAAH!"

"Clare take cover and stay away from me. This is going to be a very dangerous fight." The brown-haired girl quickly nodded and followed her guardian's orders but still kept a watchful eye.

Priscilla gasped for breath trying to control the massive amount of yoki flowing through her veins.

"Revert back while you still have the chance!" Teresa warned the young warrior but it was already too late. Her body was contorted, muscles bulged covered in veins with a demonic mug to boot. Her comrades where only a few feet away as they stared at her with worry.

"That idiot she went over her limit! I knew it was too risky to bring her here." Irene scowled while holding her shoulder.

"Is she going to awaken?" Noel blurted out.

"She better not or else we'll have a bigger problem on our hands, but I fear her yoki levels have surpassed that of no return."

"So she's not going to revert back then?" Sophia retorted as she felt the air around them start to bend.

"Once in awhile a ranked two warrior surpasses the power of the current timeline's number one. It's an inevitable fate. I just didn't think it would happen so fast."

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Teresa directed Priscilla's movements which made her follow up a steep and rocky hillside away from the town of La Roosa. If she couldn't get this warrior to revert back to her original state she would have no choice but to take her head.

"Teresa, your unforgivable!" Priscilla was drooling at the mouth having gone half mad and drunk with power. A power she could no longer drive herself away from.

Clare was looking at the battle that was soon drawing to a close, while hidden behind a rock. Inwardly she chanted for Teresa's victory over that insane warrior. Soon they would not be bothered anymore from the warriors of the organization and they could go on and live their life together.

_You can do it Teresa!_

Teresa said her final words to the young warrior to end her prolonged suffering. Raising her arms half way she positioned her blade. A devilish smirk flashed across Priscilla's face as she gripped her Claymore and with one fatal swoop she chopped off Teresa's hands.

Seeing severed hands grasping a sword a few feet away, Clare's mind could not process what she was seeing.

_Who's hands are–..._

Before she could react, Teresa felt something cold and sharp spread across her neck. A feeling she never grew too familiar with. This would be one of her last horrible memories as she left this earth. Not one that shared happiness and peace with Clare but one of painful regret. Regret Teresa thought she herself could escape from. With a loud thud her lifeless body fell onto the rocky terrain as blood seeped from her wounds. The rocks were dyed a brilliant crimson.

"Ha...haha."

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"AHAHAHAHAHA!"

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Maniacal laughter erupted from the demented warrior, obviously taking great joy in what she had done. Finally ending the life of that murderous bitch that was formally number one.

"Where's you faint smile now Teresa?"

"Hahahaha! HAHAH–"

"!"

Priscilla's cackling soon came to a halt as her muscles spasmed involuntary, purple light to shoot out from all the sides of her body. A fierce shockwave then hit Noel, Sophia and Irene in the face as they shielded their eyes from flying dust and dirt.

"What the fuck was that?!" Noel shouted feeling the bone crushing surge of yoki.

"Shit! She's awakened! Sophia, Noel watch yourselves!" All three warriors took off in different directions not wanting to stand in one spot for too long. From the dust cloud emerged a single horn, gracing the top of a purple demon's head. Wings outstretch for the first time as they fanned away the dust with one powerful flap.

"That feels so much better." Priscilla spoke in a unearthly deep voice standing upright. She could see her comrades advance towards her. Sophia was the first to slash at the awakened being but was not fast enough as a thick purple tentacle impaled her five feet off the ground.

"Why are you attacking me Sophia? I thought you were my sempai?" Another tentacle wrapped itself in a spiral motion around Sophia's sword arm. Blood spewed from her mouth from the crushing of her internal organs.

"GAK! You monst-"

The tentacle snapped the bones in her arm into multiple fragments. Bits of jagged marrow were seen protruding from skin and flesh.

"AHHHHHHH!"

Sophia let loose a shrill scream as her right arm was now compromised.

"SOPHIA!"

Noel charged furiously at Priscilla's awakened form as tears stung her own eyes. A flash of purple passed in front of Noel as the warrior fell forward. Both of her knees were bent backwards from the sudden impact of Priscilla's many tentacles.

"FUCK! MY KNEES!"

"N-Noel..."

Sophia cried knowing there was nothing she could do to protect her partner now.

_Why god, why?! Why does it have to end like this? I was supposed to protect her!_

Priscilla's long serpentine tongue licked away the tears of her impaled comrade.

"Your tears taste so sweet, here, let me put you out of your misery." With that said the lower portion of Sophia's body was completely ripped away.

"SOPHIA! SOPHIA!"

Noel sobbed while pounding the earth with her fists, she then threw her Claymore at the purple being out of frustration. Priscilla deflected it nonchalantly as she dropped the dismembered warrior to the ground.

"I can't eat this." Four tentacles extended from her fingertips.

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK, CRACK...

All four of Noel's limb were crushed completely making her immobile. She screamed in pain and was on the verge of passing out. As Irene saw the event unfold before her eyes, she stood still absolutely petrified. The chambers of her heart slammed loudly as a cold sweat dampened her gloves.

_Is this how I'm going to die?_

She raised her left arm, blade in hand as the walking monster of death came towards her. In a matter of seconds Irene's arm was ripped clean off her body as she fell to the ground. Priscilla looked at her defeated enemies and was content that there was no further threat. The pair of wings on her back flapped quickly as the being lifted off the ground. Clare stared in horror at the massacre but her full attention was now on the monster that was coming to eat her. She quickly ducked back behind the rock closing her eyes, bracing herself for the worst.

.

.

_One minute, two minutes, three minutes go by..._

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After she regained some courage to peak out from behind the rock, the girl saw a large purple hand grasp the boulder she was hiding behind. Clare's head tilted upwards as she saw a pair of hellish yellow eyes stare down at her. Priscilla flung the boulder behind her with incredible force as it landed thirty feet away. Caught in Priscilla's death leer, the poor little girl lost control of her bladder as a dark stain became visible on her clothes. Those huge saucer like portals of burning gold shifted their gaze over the girl's frame.

"Hmph.."

Air was expelled from the beings nostrils, as if saying this girl wasn't even worth her time. The purple horned demon then vanished just as quickly she appeared. Clare picked herself up and walked over to the lifeless corpse that was once her great protector. Each step felt heavier and heavier until the girl collapsed to her knees into a pool of blood. She laid her head on the warrior's chest and cried for a very long time. Her world and life with Teresa had come to an end.

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"Noel..."

Sophia dragged her half dismembered body over to where her companion laid. She still had some strength left in her before passing out and dying from blood-loss.

"Sophia please regenerate your wounds before you..."

Noel begged her comrade as streams of tears ran down her face. How cruel the situation was to not even be able to hold the one you cared for as they suffered in pain.

"There's nothing really left to regenerate." Sophia half way joked with a forced smile. She knew she was going to die any moment but she desperately needed to be by her comrades side.

"How can you smile at a time like this!"

Noel bawled even more as she gritted her teeth. She hated the world, she hated god and she hated Priscilla. She couldn't even imagine what her life would be like without Sophia.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you Noel, I failed miserably. I should of known this mission was going to be our last. I should not of put so much hope into-" Sophia was quickly cut off.

"Just shut up!"

The warrior looked at Noel in surprise. "I don't want to remember how sorry you were for not saving me Sophia. I want to remember the strong and brave comrade that fought along side of me. So save your regrets for later!"

Sophia smiled in return to her partner's selfish wish and granted it without a second thought. Wiping away droplets Noel's tear-stricken face she began to say her last words as the rest of her blood supply soaked into the earth.

"It was an honor to fight by your side Noel. I never would of made it this far without you. Hold our experiences close and our memories closer."

"COUGH." Blood seeped from the dying warrior's mouth.

"N-Noel, I..."

Noel quickly bent her back as high as she could to kiss her partner one last time. Sophia held her partner tight not wanting to let go. Feeling the last ounces life leave her body, Sophia's grip became weaker and weaker until her heart had stopped beating.

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Orsay looked upon the destruction from Priscilla's awakening and shook his head in disappointment.

"Teresa, you've seemed to have met your match. Have you also met your maker?"

The wind carried the sound of weak cries from atop the hill, Orsay had made his way up the steep terrain. Just as he expected, Teresa had indeed met her maker but in an unusual way at that. The number ones he had seen in the past all suffered messy and gruesome deaths with most of the bodies mutilated beyond belief. However Teresa's death seemed to be swift and clean, as if she were taken off guard.

Orsay examined the body and paused taking a few more mental notes. He seemed to stay in a crouching position without turning his head to look at the girl behind him.

"Tell me Clare if that is your real name. Did this woman mean anything to you?"

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**Announcement/Q&A/Ranting:**

I've added a few things to chapter 1 and chapter 4 part II which explains all those re-post messages clogging up your inboxes. ^^;; Gomenasai! I'm in need of a new beta reader right now so if you know anyone that is willing to beta this story please let me know.

NOTE: Title Change! Old Title: Innocent Words New Title: **Still I Cherish What You Gave to Me**

With that being said I'm sure you guys have lots of questions like:

Q: What kinda fanfic is this?! Why did u kill off Teresa(-sama)? D:

A: I'm not going to answer that yet .;; please wait for the next chapter...

Q: You killed Sophia but kept Noel alive? Why?

A: I find Noel very interesting plus I will need her for plot development. Writing Sophia's death scene was saddening and was no easy task so please be aware that characters _will actually die_ in this fic. I'm not fond of letting everyone survive because it is not realistic. However I may bring back a few characters for further plot development.

Q: Is Clare going to become a Claymore?

A: Hmm, I'd probably be writing a completely different story if she wasn't. I do have ideas for a different story by the way, something similar to a visual novel in a written format but without the pretty pictures. I'm not a pro at drawing people yet.

Q: What the hell took you so long?!

A: Life and all it's little complexities. Let's just say, there's a lot of crap going on right now.

Now that I've thoroughly confused you all I have the audacity to ask you guys this. How many of you read a Teresa and Clare centered fanfiction half way through only to have the author stamp a big huge "WE'RE SISTERS!" label on both of them?

Chapter 9999 : An ambiguous claymore fic.

Clare: Yay, the author has declared that we're officially sisters now! I'm off to screw Raki! :D

Teresa: Ok! *thumbs up* Hello incredibly handsome OC(original character) male.~ LET'S GET BUSY TOO!

Reader: What the f**k did I just read? =_=

Trolololol right? This seems to be an increasing phenomena(yes, I said phenomena!) within the Claymore fanfic community. Please tell me I'm not the only that's experiencing this!

Butthurt T&Cfan end rant,

till next time.


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